ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes

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◄◄⠀▐▐ ⠀►►⠀⠀ ⠀ 0:00 / 3:22 ⠀ ───○ 🔊⠀ ᴴᴰ ⚙ ❐ ⊏⊐

I'm an apostrophe

I'm just a symbol to remind you that there's more to see

I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe

And yet a masterpiece, and yet I'm half-diseased

---

The Ice Ninja could only see snow, with the blizzard slightly obscuring his vision. Suddenly, the ground began to crack and shift under him, and he fell into a cave, and nearby, something growled. He picked up his arm that had come off him and put it back on.

Suddenly, an ice-blue dragon appeared, chains attached to its neck. It came closer, towering over the titanium nindroid who cowered in fear and roared.

The dragon prepared to fire its ice at him, and he looked up at the hole that appeared when he fell to see the falcon.

''Zane? Are you still there?'' The voice seemed to be coming from the bird. ''If you can hear me, wake up. You need to wake up.''

Zane found himself chained to the wall. ''It was only a dream.'' He told himself.

''It's amazing you dream. I've always wondered what it's like. You've always been special.'' The voice replied, and Zane looked up at the barred window between the two cells.

''Where am I? Who are you?'' Zane questioned, confused.

''I'm Pixal, a friend. And you're in danger and have to get out of here. Your memory drive is out of sorts and your Elemental Power—'' Pixal answered.

''Elemental Power?'' The Ice Ninja interrupted, still confused.

''You're a Nindroid, Zane, a Ninja. And your friends are here to save you. But they can't do it all. You have to remember who you are.'' Pixal replied.

''Friends?'' Zane asked.

''Remember, Zane. You saved your friends and then rebuilt yourself. There are things about you that you don't understand. That you have yet to discover. But if we're ever going to get out of here, you have to remember.'' Pixal reminded him.

''(Y/n)?''

---

While in the cafeteria, the Elemental Masters lined up to be served food.

''Next! Nu-uh. Nothing for you.'' Said a cultist, denying Garmadon his creamy biscuits.

''There's a valuable lesson here, son. If you turn your back on your first evil Sensei in an effort to go straight...'' Garmadon told his son.

''Next!''

''...you may not be served creamy biscuits.'' His father finished as he walked away.

''Well, I know what we are being served. A whole bunch of baloney. This isn't a fighting tournament. It's an alibi for Chen to steal everyone's powers. But we still don't know why.'' Lloyd told Kai, looking at him.

''Isn't it obvious? Chen wants to destroy New Ninjago City. I don't know what it is, but that place has had a string of bad luck.'' The Fire Ninja replied.

''I'm not so sure. From what Sensei G's told us about him, I have a feeling it's something far more sinister.'' Cole said.

''And may I remind us, we still don't know where Zane is, which is why we all need to take care of our first rounds to give us more time,'' Jay spoke, and Cole looked to see him still in his pyjamas and wearing a sleeping gown. ''Don't look at me. I've already moved on.''

''Your opponent got himself kicked out,'' Cole told him.

''Hehe, either way, it's my day off.'' The Lightning Ninja replied, turning to the cultist who was serving creamy biscuits. ''Extra creamy biscuits. And don't skimp.'' He then turned and walked away with Cole, his extra creamy biscuits on his tray.

''Taking a day off? And here I thought Ninja never quit.'' Cole replied.

''And I used to think a Ninja wouldn't steal your girlfriend.'' Jay retorted.

''Whatever you have to say to each other, say it now, because harbouring grudges hurts no one but yourselves.'' Sensei Garmadon told the pair.

''He's right. You should be preparing to fight your next opponent, not each other.'' Lloyd added. The Lightning Ninja and the Earth Ninja started bickering like little kids.

Meanwhile (Y/n) and Remo were being served food. The little snake had found himself a mini tray and ordered the one food on his mind: Ham sandwiches.

The server brought up a stack of ham sandwiches from out of nowhere and placed it on the little snake's tray.

(Y/n) sighed, looking at the snake with a smile. ''You've already eaten all of your ham sandwiches in the fridge.''

Remo took a bite out of his sandwich. ''Money doesn't grow on trees, but I hope ham sandwiches do.''

She smiled, stroking him while he stopped eating to enjoy the moment, in bliss.

The little snake's tray was on (Y/n)'s, as she had only enough to satisfy her hunger. She then turned away, walking towards the others when someone tripped her over, making hers and Remo's tray sail high into the air, before falling and landing on the floor.

(Y/n) looked up, seeing the boys look at her from their table, she blushed in embarrassment, before a hand was offered to her. She looked up to see Skylor, who looked down at her seemingly concerned.

She took the hand, and got up, dusting herself off. The red-haired girl's face was filled with confusion as if she had expected something to happen.

''You look confused there, did you expect something to happen?'' (Y/n) questioned, a speck of distrust towards Skylor lingering in her mind.

''No, uh, nothing, at all,'' Skylor admitted a bit too quickly, raising the Orange Ninja's suspicions.

''The tournament of Elements continues. Fun time! Would the following Masters please make their way to their assign arena? Speed, Gravity, Smoke, Nature, Mind, oh, and last and hopefully not least...'' Chen's voice spoke over the speakers, making the Elemental Masters turn their heads towards it.

''Huh, maybe we all got the day off,'' Jay said to Cole.

''Fire!'' Chen finished, making Kai gasp. ''Remember, only one can remain.''

---

The elemental masters sat down and waited for the fight between the Master of Fire and the Master of Smoke to commence.

''Kai, Master of Fire, versus Ash, Master of Smoke. Fight!'' Chen shouted. The two were on opposite sides of a bridge, over a pool with lava dotted with rocks.

They ran towards the Jade Blade, which was in the middle of the bridge. Ash made the bridge sway dangerously, making Kai almost fall off, but luckily grabbed onto the bottom of the bridge as the Jade Blade fell and embed itself in a rock.

Ash ran on the bridge, while Kai hung onto the wooden planks of the bridge, kicking the wood and jumping into the air, as he struck Ash the Master of Smoke disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

He quickly turned around to face his laughing opponent, the Master of Fire grunting as Ash sent a wisp of smoke his way.

Once again aiming for his opponent, the Master of Smoke again disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind Kai.

Ash ran at the Master of Fire, and he kicked, once again the attacker poofed, and Kai met his kick with one of his own. Ash kicked Kai in the back, quickly reappearing in front of the Master of Fire and aiming a hit at his face.

The Master of Smoke's hit made Kai fly backwards into the bridge, breaking the planks and almost falling down into the lava, being saved by his quick reflexes.

Chen laughed, while the crowd cheered, and the ninja watched the Master of Fire, worried looks on their faces.

Kai held onto the bridge, facing Ash. He dodged the wisps of smoke as Ash sent them, and the wooden plank he was holding onto broke in two.

He looked down at the lava, before swinging up and using his spinjitzu, going towards Ash who kept away from the flaming tornado.

Kai's fists caught aflame, and he threw fire at the Master of Smoke, who simply made himself poof in smoke. The Fire Ninja kept using his powers while Ash did the same.

Clouse was about to use his Dark Magic on Kai and Ash's battle when Chen stopped him.

''No Magic. I'm enjoying this.'' Chen told the Master of Dark Arts.

Ash appeared behind Kai, who threw fire at a wooden plank in the middle of the bridge. It then broke, and the Master of Fire landed on a rock, with the Master of Smoke on the other side.

The two leapt at each other, with Kai kicking Ash who held up his arm in defence, and then kicked the Master of Smoke multiple times, before the two punched at the same time, sending them back onto the rocks.

Locked in both arm wrestle, the two looked at the blade and then Ash disappeared, reappearing almost instantly and heading to the blade.

Kai summoned his fire, throwing it at the Master of Smoke who once again poofed in a cloud of smoke, allowing the Master of Fire to snatch the blade from its spot and move on.

''Winner!'' Chen shouted, seeing the blade in Kai's outstretched hand. The crowd cheered, looking at the Fire Ninja. ''Loser! Master of Fire moves on.''

---

After the fight, (Y/n) and Remo had decided to join Jay in playing games in his room, who agreed as it was supposedly his day off.

The little snake was taking a break and had found there were no more ham sandwiches in the Lightning Ninja's room. 'I'll only be a couple of minutes.' Remo told himself, quietly opening the door.

Remo slithered towards the cafeteria before hearing people from inside the circular room the Elemental Masters sat in when they first arrived.

He opened the door a tiny bit, and slipped in, turning himself invisible. There were kabuki dancing, using their fans as entertainment. Chen sat on his chair, three rows of buttons on each side, with Clouse by his side.

''Master, it was the Ninja who snuck into our ceremony, yet we allow them to move forward. I beg you, let me use my sorcery and put an end to this.'' Clouse told his master, looking at Chen.

''We'll use your Magic in time, but not now. Not when there are other ways to whittle them down. Perhaps it's time to switch things up.'' Chen replied, and the two laughed.

Remo quickly slithered out of there, almost being caught by Clouse who turned his head in the direction of the intruder, seemingly sensing the little snake's presence.

---

The chatter was loud as the Elemental Masters crowded around the brackets.

''What's all the commotion?'' Jay asked, pushing aside a few to look. The ninja then gasped, seeing that the Lightning Ninja and the Earth Ninja were on the same bracket.

''No, he can't do this,'' Cole said in disbelief, looking at Jay.

''He already did,'' Lloyd told him.

''We gotta fight each other.'' The Earth Ninja said.

Remo poked his head out of (Y/n)'s sleeve, looking at the two. ''I overheard Chen and Clouse talking about you guys sneaking around, they found out, apparently.'' He told them.

''But why does it say I have to fight Cole?'' Jay asked. ''It didn't say that before. I'm not ready to fight. It was supposed to be my day off.''

''I tried to warn you, but you never listen. Talk, yes. Listen, not so much.'' Cole replied.

''Is there a problem, Ninja?'' Clouse asked, sneering at the ninja.

''You cheated! You changed the brackets.'' The Earth Ninja answered.

''Oopsie.'' The Master of Dark Arts replied, laughing and turning away.

''What do we do?'' Lloyd asked his father. ''They can't fight each other. We came here to become whole, not fall further apart.''

''You can't undo what's been done. My only advice is to be at peace with it.'' Garmadon told his son.

''Peace? One of us has to lose! Oh, my gosh. It's totally gonna be me. He's got super strength and what do I have? Quick, tell me! What do I have!?'' Jay asked, shaking (Y/n).

The Orange Ninja looked very shooketh, looking at the Master of Lightning with a blank face.

''Don't listen to my dad. We find Zane then none of us have to battle. Your fight isn't until tonight so we still have time to figure out what Chen's up to and stop this.'' Lloyd told him.

''I think I know just the person who can help. And I think he already knows.'' Kai replied.

---

Crickets chirped as the ninja made their way over to Neuro, who sat on a rock with his back turned to them, holding his hands to his head.

''We need your help, Neuro,'' Lloyd told the Master of Mind.

''You think I can get close to Chen to read his mind, so you can find your robotic friend and not have to fight,'' Neuro replied almost instantly.

''Don't forget...'' Kai went to remind him.

''You still need to know what Chen's up to because he's hiding something,'' Neuro said, voicing his thoughts.

''That's really impressive, Nerdo.'' Jay complimented the Master of Mind, accidentally getting his name wrong.

''It's Neuro, Master of the Mind.'' Neuro corrected him, turning to the ninja. ''And Cole thinks Jay won't last long in a fight.''

''Pfft. You think that?'' Jay asked the Master of Earth.

''You just said it yourself,'' Cole replied.

''But you didn't have to believe it.'' The Lightning Ninja told him.

''Don't be offended, Cole. Jay here thinks you're the least valuable Ninja.'' Neuro added.

''You don't say.'' The Earth Ninja said, and the two started to push each other.

''We wanted you to help, Neuro, not make things worse,'' Lloyd told the Master of Mind.

''But why would I help? You're competition. The sooner you're out, the better for me.'' Neuro replied.

''If you want what's best for you, just look into my head and you'll see what this tournament is all about,'' Lloyd said, and the Master of Mind did so, seeing the Green Ninja's memory of Chen stealing Karloff's power. ''It's only a matter of time before Chen steals your power too. So are you in?'' Lloyd asked.

The Master of Mind nodded and went to look inside (Y/n)'s head because he was Nosy Neuro.

He found himself in a field of green, with stalks of grass gently swaying in the wind, with petals floating on the breeze.

Suddenly, a gale began to blow, making the Master of Mind cover his eyes, and when he opened them he found himself looking at a person.

Anger filled the stranger's eyes, his short black hair with its green streak moving with the wind, as well as his worn travellers cloak. Neuro then noticed the stranger to him was transparent, his skin a foggy green.

The Master of Mind recognised the person as a ghost before they went forward and swiftly kicked him out of (Y/n)'s mind, saying something like: ''Access Denied.''

Neuro wobbled on his rock, in shock he fell off, hitting his head on the ground. (Y/n) looked at him with a frown, while also giving Morro an imaginary high-five in her head.

''What just happened?'' Asked Cole as Neuro quickly walked away, confused as to what just happened.

The Orange Ninja shrugged, before turning and walking away to her room.

---

The crowd cheered, seated above and around the arena where Jay and Cole would fight. Chen sat in his chair and waited.

Jay punched a punching bag with Cole's face on it. ''Thinks it'll be an easy fight. Well, I'll show him! Haha!'' The Lightning Ninja told himself as he punched, before using his lightning on it, making it explode in a cloud of dust.

He then walked up to it, looking down at the photo of his friend.

Cole was doing the same, punching the bag before being hit into the bars. He quickly got up, and used spinjitzu on it, reducing it to dust. He stared at the photo of his friend, hesitant as second thoughts rushed through his head.

''You're cutting it close. So did you see into his head?'' Kai asked as Neuro arrived.

Neuro panted. ''I'm sorry. I couldn't get past Clouse.'' He apologised.

''Good. Then we can finally put our feud to rest. Gladiator style!'' Jay replied, raising his fist.

''But I did see something. For a brief moment, I saw inside Clouse's mind. The powers he's collecting, they are for a spell. A spell for what, I don't know. But it's in his spellbook on page 149. I'm sorry it's not enough to stop the fight. I wish I could've done more.'' Neuro told them, apologising again.

''That's okay. You've done what you could.'' Kai replied, putting his hand on the Master of Mind's shoulder.

On the opposite side of the arena, Lloyd was trying to comfort the Master of Earth, who sighed as he heard the news.

''You don't have to say it. It was inevitable we were gonna have to face each other. May as well be Jay. This fight's been a long time coming.'' Cole told him.

''Well, I'm not at peace with this, but that doesn't mean you still can't find peace with each other. We don't have control when we fight, but we do have control how we fight. Jay's not the enemy, Chen is. Remember that.'' Lloyd reminded him, holding onto the bars.

''Wu once said the best way to defeat your enemy is to make him your friend, but how are you supposed to defeat your friend?'' The Master of Earth asked.

The bars on Cole's and Jay's cage lowered, and the crowd cheered, the battle between Earth and Lightning was about to begin.

Neuro, Lloyd and Kai went back to the audience, walking over to Garmadon. (Y/n) stood, and sighed as she looked at the two about to fight.

While Remo looked over at Chen's chair, seeing the many buttons that dotted the sides, waiting to be pressed.

''You tried your best, the rest is up to them,'' Garmadon told them.

''I hope they can see that too,'' Lloyd replied.

''Let the tournament continue! Jay, Master of Lightning, versus Cole, Master of—'' Chen said, before being interrupted as the two ran at each other.

Jay fired a bolt of lightning at the Earth Ninja, who leapt over it, slamming his fists into the ground and making rocky spikes appear, headed to the Lightning Ninja who flipped back to avoid it.

''Haha! That's all you've got? Least valuable Ninja!'' Jay taunted.

''Eat dirt, Blue-belle!'' Cole shouted, firing earth at the Blue Ninja, who dodged and sent a lightning bolt at the Black Ninja. Cole defended himself with his earth, and Jay shot another bolt at the Earth Ninja.

''Oh, Clouse, go get me popcorn. This is turning out better than I anticipated.'' Chen said, excited.

''Stronger than you thought, eh? That's your betrayal flowing through my veins.'' Jay told his friend as he kept Cole's earth at bay with his lightning.

''I'm looking forward to the peace and quiet when you're out of the tournament,'' Cole replied, the two yelling as the Earth Ninja overpowered Jay.

''What are we doing? I don't want you out. You're not my enemy, Chen is.'' The Earth Ninja said, pointing up at Chen who was eating popcorn.

''Oh, sure, lower my guard by pretending to be my friend, then swoop in to steal the prize. Typical Cole manoeuvre.'' Jay replied, getting up and summoning his lightning.

''I never meant to hurt you, Jay. If I knew it would destroy our friendship, I'd take it all back.'' The Earth Ninja told his friend as he walked towards him.

''Well, if we're being honest, I was upset about losing Nya, but I take blame for that. I was more upset about losing you. We used to be good friends.'' Jay said, stopping.

''The best! Right? We should've been honest with each other instead of bottling this up.'' Cole replied.

''Agreed. But how are we supposed to stop fighting?'' The Lightning Ninja asked. ''We can't both win.''

''Well, maybe we can draw it out till they call it a tie. Quick, attack me. But not hard.'' Cole said, and the two ran at each other, fighting without the use of their Elemental Powers.

''Ah, what is this? Pattycake? I'm bored. Release the Condrai Crushers!'' Chen commanded, eating some popcorn before tossing it aside.

The Condrai Crushers appeared, circling around the two.

''I got your back,'' Cole told Jay, standing back to back with his friend.

''And I've got yours,'' Jay replied.

As a Condrai Crusher came in to attack, the two used spinjitzu, dodging it and making it crash into a wall.

''Ah, they fight together. Good work, son.'' The formerly evil sensei told Lloyd proudly.

''Yeah, I do listen to you every once in a while,'' Lloyd replied with a smile.

After defeating the rest of the Condrai Crushers, Chen was enraged.

''Enough! I know what you are trying to do. If neither of you will win, then both of you will lose!'' The noodle man shouted, before using his buttons to make holes start appearing in the ground.

''We can't both lose. Chen's right, there can only be one.'' Cole told Jay, looking at the pole the Jade Blade was on.

''And it should be you. You and I both know I'm lucky to have even made it this far. You take the Jadeblade.'' Jay replied. Cole turned and ran to the Jade Blade, jumping up and snatching it from its spot, before throwing it to Jay.

''Winner! Loser! Master of Lightning moves on.'' Chen announced.

''She's yours, Jay. I should've bowed out long ago. Win this thing.'' The Earth Ninja told the Lightning Ninja before Chen pressed a button and made a hole appear beneath Cole, making him fall.

Jay blinked, as he was about to tell the Earth Ninja something, but it was too late as he was already gone. And in the corner of his eye, he saw (Y/n), who was looking at Chen with a frown.

''About time. Phew.'' Chen said.

''Cole may be gone, but he did not lose,'' Garmadon told the others. ''Let what he did here today be a lesson for us all. Know thine enemy, but more importantly, know thy friend. He fought like a true ninja.''

Yes, it's difficult to update, since, with school and all, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D

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See ya, Bookworms. <3

WriterAgreste, over & out!